A space vehicle ’s sample take condensation was detect entering the Earth ’s atmosphere using acoustical sensor by a team of scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Colorado State University .

In 2016 , NASA launched an awesome charge to catch up with asteroid Bennu , 320 million kilometer ( 200 million naut mi ) from Earth . In2020 , the Origins , Spectral Interpretation , Resource Identification , and Security - Regolith Explorer ( OSIRIS - REx ) investigation successfully reach out to the asteroid briefly , finding aloose collection of debrisrather than a firm airfoil .

In late September 2023 , the samples from OSIRIS - REx were deliver back to Earth inside a ejector seat . Whilst NASA track and retrieved the sample return capsule , quick toanalyze the sample , another squad saw an opportunity for some jolly nerveless science , using the sampling return as an analog for meteoroid impact .

" The prediction of shock waves and impacts from meter - size of it objects is difficult due to the spatio - temporal dubiety related to their trajectory . Therefore , most transcription of objects entering the atmosphere using geophysical instruments on the ground ( for instance , seismometers and infrasound sensing element ) are serendipitous and the instrument sparsity does not generally allow for a elaborated characterization of their flight and recordings of the full wavefield , " the team explained in their paper .

They add that " the know flight and timing of this take render a rare chance to strategically instrument sites to record geophysical signaling grow by the abridgement as it move around at hypersonic speeds through the atmosphere . "

The squad invest Distributed Acoustic Sensing ( DAS ) , a " optical maser - based technology that uses Rayleigh backscattering to detect distribute vibrations ( e.g. , strain rate ) along the opthalmic roughage " , as well as seismometers and infrasound sensors across two sites near Eureka , Nevada , quick to capture the capsule ’s downslope . This involved repose 12 kilometer ( 7.46 Admiralty mile ) of optical roughage cables .

When the moment came , it was worth it .

" We successfully measured seismoacoustic signal produced by the OSIRIS - male monarch Sample Return Capsule using DAS , representing the first such measuring with this instrumentation , " the paper reads . " We remark initial brainish arrivals , with stiff coda lasting about a s . Because of the inherent spatial try out density of DAS , we were capable to keep phase that would have been drop otherwise by a banner , more spatially sparse seismoacoustic deployment . "

Using this method , the team get a practiced look at the sonic boom from the sample capsule , seeing how thewavefront changedas it murder the solid ground below . The squad believe that this method acting could be multiply to get a look at further impacts .

" One of our ongoing objectives is to well understand the physical mechanisms impacting the ground - air yoke of acoustical and seismal form as they are recorded with Earth’s surface - cloak DAS fiber , " they reason .

While the team works on this , NASA ’s OSIRIS - REx has been renamedOSIRIS - APEX , and will essay to get up nigh to asteroid 99942 Apophis follow a close skirmish by the asteroid with Earth in 2029 .

" Our planet ’s gravitational pull is expect to alter the asteroid ’s eye socket , change how fast it spins on its axis , and maybe stimulate quakes or landslip that will alter its surface,“NASA explainsof their planned mission . " OSIRIS - APEX will countenance scientists on Earth to notice these changes . Additionally , the OSIRIS - APEX space vehicle will dip toward the airfoil of Apophis ­ – a ' stony ' asteroid made of silicate ( or rocky ) material and a mixture of metallic atomic number 28 and iron ­ – and fire its engines to kick up sluttish rock and dust . This maneuver will give scientists a peek at the constitution of fabric just below the asteroid ’s surface . "

The study is publish in the journalSeismological Research Letters .